104 Work Weeks: On Tour With the Merce Cunningham Dance Company

open to the public: Monday – Friday 12PM-7PM for an appointment contact: 917 859 3856

Artist Kenneth E. Parris III, has been on tour with members of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company for two years documenting their world tour through a series of drawings. Focusing on what happens on the road before and after performances, 104 Work Weeks: On Tour With the Merce Cunningham Dance Company is a tribute to the final generation of dancers trained by Cunningham and the journey embarked on together. The exhibition Opens on December 29th followed by a Reception on December 30th and runs through January 10th

After fifty-eight years of artistic achievement, the Merce Cunningham Dance Company is scheduled to disband on New Year’s Day of 2012. The Legacy Tour, launched in January of 2010, will showcase eighteen works in fifty cities around the world. Parris has been traveling with the company creating work centered on the dancers way of life. “I’m fascinated by what drives people to get out of bed and to push the Sisyphean boulder up the hill again and again,” he said in a recent interview. “Under the patina of grace and glamour, there lies a working-class ethic. These dancers work together everyday on and off stage and it is inspiring to see people contributing to something that is bigger than themselves.”

Six months ago, Parris was invited by The New York Times to post one drawing per week to the ArtsBeat Blog for an ongoing series titled Drawing Dance. This exhibition will also be the first opportunity to see these original drawings. Trend Hunter Art & Design writes, “Like Caravaggio before him, Parris is a master of two dimensional cinematic lighting, which lends an undeniable sense of drama to the mundane.” This exhibit is supported in part by a space grant from chashama.

About the Artist Currently residing in Brooklyn, Kenneth E. Parris III was born in Philadelphia and raised in Austin, Texas. Parris had his first solo exhibition at G Gallery in Houston, TX, March 2007. Since then, he has exhibited in galleries and exhibition spaces in New York City and across the U.S. as well as in numerous Contemporary Art Fairs. Parris graduated with a BFA in Illustration and an AAS in Graphic Design from Rochester Institute of Technology, NY. He has won awards from the American Advertising Federation and had work selected for the Bombay Sapphire & Russell Simmons Artisan Series. Parris’ work is in top private collections across the country including Lester Marks and Richard Massey and he is Co-founder of The 400 Geese and Creative Director of My Jerusalem.

Some of Parris’ work may be seen by visiting The New York Times, Drawing Dance series on the ArtsBeat blog: http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/drawing-dance/

For more details visit: www.parris3.com